The construction of an $8 million shared school and recreation space in Lakelands is one step closer to becoming a reality, after the City of Mandurah committed $1 million in funding towards the delivery of the project.

In an ordinary council meeting on Tuesday night, City councillors approved the allocation of $1 million within the 2017/18 budget and announced their plans to borrow $2.8 million from WA’s Treasury Corporation to fund the facility.

The Lakelands district open space has been in the City’s plans since 2010, when officers identified the need to create a recreation space in Mandurah’s northern suburbs.

Northern Mandurah is one of the city’s fastest growing areas, with numbers expected to increase from 7500 people in 2017 to more than 17,600 by 2036, an increase of almost 135 per cent.

With only one local active open space in the area at Coote Reserve, Madora Bay, the Lakelands district open space was identified as the number one priority for Mandurah’s northern suburbs in 2015.

The facility would consist of three active reserve spaces, a community club room, a carpark and sports floodlights.

It would serve the growing population of Mandurah’s northern suburbs, the students of the Lakelands Primary School and the students at the new Lakelands high school currently under construction.

It is anticipated that the construction of the first two sport ovals would be completed by the start of the 2019 school year to allow for the first intake of students at the new high school to use the facility.

The clubrooms would be completed by March 2020.

The project has also secured $2.5 million in funding from the state government as part of an election commitment and $850,000 from the Department of Education.

The City of Mandurah has also applied for a $1.6 million grant though the Department of Sports of Recreation and a $150,000 funding contribution from the Australian Football League (AFL).